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OpEd: President Obama’s Farewell: A Siren to Citizenship

January 11, 2017

Last night, President Obama ended where it all began—in Chicago, Illinois. They say you can never go home again, but you would never know that by the standing ovation that lasted a few minutes and then evolved into chants of “4 more years.” Last night, the President gave his farewell address. These addresses have often been made quickly and quietly from the confines of the White House, with our past two presidents giving a hasty wave and scurrying out the door. Much like his presidency over the past eight years however, Obama’s farewell speech and its location were like the man himself—bold, full, complex and diverse. This speech wasn’t so much “farewell, see you later, and thanks for the memories” as it was a reminder of the progress we’ve made as a nation— from 75 months of consecutive job growth to marriage equality to killing Osama bin Laden. It was a direct call-to-action and a lesson in the awesome responsibility of American citizenship. President Obama remarked: After eight years as your President, I still believe that. And it’s not just my belief. It’s the beating heart of our American idea – our bold experiment in self-government. It’s the conviction that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s the insistence that these rights, while self-evident, have never been self-executing; that We, the People, through the instrument of our democracy, can form a more perfect union….more detail

Feb. 14, 2017 6:40 a.m. ET Sign up:With one click, get this newsletter delivered to your inbox. Leave it to California growers to find a new way to eliminate the shipping from farm to warehouse. A startup operation near the San Francisco International Airport is trying to turn the warehouse itself into a farm, the WSJ’s Jacob Bunge and Eliot Brown report, eliminating the timing, transportation and preservation strategies that are critical to modern agriculture distribution. Backed by a group of tech entrepreneurs and investors, Plenty United Inc. hopes to begin selling produce soon that they say is bred for…... [read more]

The former Uzbek president, Islam Karimov, has been buried but many questions remain, both about his death and the future leadership and direction of his country. Official and unofficial death Although a public transition of power began after Mr Karimov's death, questions are still being asked about the way Uzbek government handled his demise. The first reports of his death emerged immediately after the official announcement of his hospitalisation on 28 August. The initial report by the cabinet gave no details of his illness. On 29 August, the president's youngest daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillayeva, said on Instagram that her father had…... [read more]

President Donald Trump's administration is stepping back from a request made by former President Barack Obama's administration in an ongoing lawsuit over bathroom rights for transgender students in public schools. In a filing Friday with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal government asked to withdraw a motion filed last year that asked a judge to scale back a temporary injunction blocking Obama's guidance on the issue. Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images The Department of Justice's filing, which came a day after Jeff Sessions was sworn in as Trump's attorney general, said the parties were "currently considering how…... [read more]

US First Lady Michelle Obama has been reunited with a group of British schoolgirls she met during a previous visit to the UK. On the second day of President Barack Obama's state visit Mrs Obama made a speech at Oxford University and took questions from the children. She paid an emotional visit to their school in Islington, London, in 2009. Mrs Obama had earlier co-hosted a barbecue at Downing Street with prime minister's wife Samantha Cameron. During her visit to Oxford on Wednesday the First Lady told the schoolchildren she was "thrilled to be back" in the UK and spoke…... [read more]

US coffee chain firm Starbucks will pay college fees for US workers to complete a bachelor's degree online in a tie-up with Arizona State University. US employees of the firm who work at least 20 hours a week are eligible for the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. Starbucks staff who are successfully enrolled will receive partial tuition for the first two years, and full tuition for their final two years. The annual fee for online courses at the university can exceed $10,000. After they've completed their bachelor's degree, the employees are not obligated to return to employment with Starbucks. the inequality…... [read more]

Media captionLIVE: President Obama's speechPresident Barack Obama is expected to order the National Security Agency (NSA) to stop storing data from Americans' phones, after a series of leaks about intelligence operations. Reports suggest Mr Obama will ask Congress to arrange how the data is stored, and how agencies can access it. The president is due to announce a number of changes to the spying system. Former intelligence worker Edward Snowden has leaked an array of details about the NSA's spying programme. As so often, [President Obama's] liberal instincts may be at war with his perceived duty as commander in chief…... [read more]

Media captionJohn Kerry: "This is a man who has betrayed his country"US Secretary of State John Kerry has labelled intelligence leaker Edward Snowden a fugitive from justice who should "man up" and return home. Mr Kerry added that if Mr Snowden, 30, "believes in America, he should trust the American system of justice". His comments come in the wake of an interview with NBC in which Mr Snowden said he sought asylum in Russia because the US revoked his passport. Mr Snowden also described himself as a trained spy, not a low-level analyst. "A patriot would not run away," Mr…... [read more]

Media captionThe two leaders agreed to "co-operate" on North KoreaUS President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have ended a two-day summit described by a US official as "unique, positive and constructive". US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said Mr Obama had warned Mr Xi that cyber-crime could be an "inhibitor" in US-China relations. He also said that both countries had agreed that North Korea had to denuclearise. The talks in California also touched on economic and environmental issues. The two leaders spent nearly six hours together on Friday and another three hours on Saturday morning at the sprawling…... [read more]

The first objective of President Barack Obama's four-nation trip to Asia has already been accomplished - literally his arrival in Japan. After previous postponements for multiple domestic crises, including last autumn's government shutdown, Mr Obama's return to the region is itself reassuring, a personal manifestation of the foreign policy "pivot" to Asia the administration enunciated two years ago but has struggled to translate in concrete terms. Now that Mr Obama is back in the region - his fifth visit as president - what challenges will he confront, what does he hope to accomplish and what does the region want to…... [read more]

US President Barack Obama says that a new US-Philippine military pact will promote stability in the region. The deal, signed in Manila hours before Mr Obama touched down, allows a bigger US military presence in the country. Mr Obama said the deal was not intended to contain China, with whom Manila is embroiled in a bitter territorial row. But he backed Manila's move to seek UN arbitration over its maritime dispute with Beijing. "Our goal is not to counter China. Our goal is not to contain China. Our goal is to make sure international rules and norms are respected and…... [read more]